window.location.hash assignation painfully slow in IE8

Question

i'm having trouble with modifying the location hash in IE8 for XP. simply calling:

self.location.hash = "whatever"

takes about 800ms~1800ms

I have no idea what can slow this down. I checked the same instruction on some other sites and it's not that slow.

Any clues what can make it so slow ? I am sorry but I can't give an online example.

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EDIT: Here's What I get in the IE console, input:

console.log( new Date().getTime() );
self.location.hash = "sfdsd";
console.log( new Date().getTime() );

output:

JOURNAL : 1326468325447
JOURNAL : 1326468327390
undefined

which makes almost 2000ms, if I read correctly, for a single assignation :/ .

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EDIT2: since it doesn't seem clear enough, more preofiled code:

var profileThat = function() {self.location.hash = "whatever"};
$('#keywatchHeader').click( profileThat );

profiler results with two clicks:

profileThat   2   3475,00 3475,00
hidden    4   50,07   50,07   http://192.168.0.30/kw5/js/jquery/jquery-1.6.2.js   6 608   
eventHandle   8   3525,07 40,06   http://192.168.0.30/kw5/js/jquery/jquery-1.6.2.js   2 595   
get   4   20,03   20,03   http://192.168.0.30/kw5/js/jquery/jquery-1.6.2.js   6 419   
get   6   10,01   10,01   http://192.168.0.30/kw5/js/yui2/dom/dom.js  96

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EDIT3:

I ran some tests on node number on tree out of curiosity and results are surprising. After such a call:

document.getElementsByTagName('*').length; //3621
$('#keywatchPanels').children().remove();
document.getElementsByTagName('*').length; //332

after that the profiler gives 600ms instead of 1700ms per call! But I hardly with node number would influence hashtag writing.

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(edit4):I've found this related question: Why is this piece of Javascript code so slow? (but the answer here is just "remove it")

Answer 1

Finally, i've found my answer in a comment of an answer of a related question: Why is this piece of Javascript code so slow?

Ugh, just found someone on a blog with the same problem. Apparently it's only this slow if you're running the IE Developer Toolbar. Now how the heck am I going to profile? -_-'

– Aistina May 7 '09 at 9:22

Why didn't I though about it earlier ?